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Le nouvel an – Advanced French – New Year – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.
France et son oncle Hugo parlent de ce qu’ils vont faire pour le nouvel an. Écoutez ce qu’ils ont prévu.
France and her uncle Hugo are talking about plans for New Year’s eve. Listen to what they have planned for themselves.
In the companion worksheet – 13 pages

* text
* translation
* what’s le réveillon, New Year’s eve’s party and the New Year in France
* recipe for an île flottante, a traditional French dessert for the New Year
* negative command forms
* the gender of adjectives - why do you say ‘nouvel an’ and not ‘nouveau an’
* practice and answers on all of the above

Today’s text is called ‘Le cauchemar des cadeaux’. France is doing her shopping for the holidays in a smarter way than she did last year. She bought presents for everyone online in order not to spend hours standing in line downtown.

In the companion worksheet – 11 pages

text

translation

LA chanson de Noël - THE French Christmas Carol

indefinites such as ‘chacun/e’ - each one, every one, ‘plusieurs’ – several and ‘n’importe quoi’ – whatever

Today’s is called: “Savoir déguster le vin – Knowing how to taste wine”. That Thursday, the third in November, it was the yearly release of the Beaujolais nouveau wine. France went to a wine tasting class for the occasion. She loved it and tells us about what she learned about how to appreciate wine. There seems to be 4 steps to it. Find them out with the AUDIO and the companion worksheet.

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Savoir déguster le vin – Knowing how to taste wine – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.
Today’s is called: “Savoir déguster le vin – Knowing how to taste wine”. That Thursday, the third in November, it was the yearly release of the Beaujolais nouveau wine. France went to a wine tasting class for the occasion. She loved it and tells us about what she learned about how to appreciate wine. There seems to be 4 steps to it. Find them out with the AUDIO and the companion worksheet.
In the companion worksheet – 11 pages

Today, we’re going on the road. This Advanced Podcast Unit is called Pépin de Caisse. Un pépin is a seed, and une caisse is a crate, often a wooden crate. In Everyday French though, un pépin is also a glitch, a trouble, a pickle, and une caisse is a car, wheels: ma caisse, my wheels. So today, France is explaining why she couldn’t meet her friend: first, her car didn’t start, then she almost got into an accident, and finally, she got caught in a traffic jam.

* text
* translation
* the road system in France
* learn why the highways are free in Brittany only
* car trouble vocabulary such as a blown head gasket, a flat tire
* connector words in telling a story: first, then, finally
* practice on all of the above

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La bibli avant – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.
Aujourd’hui, nous visitons une bibli, prenant des livres et faisant la queue comme avant. France se souvient de comment c’était à l’époque, si différent de ce que c’est de nos jours.
Today, we’re touring a library, checking out books and standing in line the old-fashioned way. France remembers what it was like at the time, so different from what it is today.
In the companion worksheet – 11 pages

La Toussaint – All Saints' Day – Advanced French – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.

La majeure partie de la France célèbre la Toussaint le premier novembre. C'est aussi un jour férié et beaucoup de gens ont pris une semaine de congés.Venez avec France et Henri à l'église. Ils parlent le français de tous les jours.
A big part of France celebrates La Toussaint (All Saints' Day) on November 1st. It’s also national holiday, and a lot of people get a week off from work. Come to church with France and Henri. They use a lot of colloquial French.

A big part of France celebrates La Toussaint (All Saints' Day) on November 1st. It’s also national holiday, and a lot of people get a week off from work. Come to church with France and Henri. They use a lot of colloquial French.
In the companion worksheet – 10 pages

Today, France is visiting an old lady. She does that every Wednesday, as part of a charity. Meet Éloïse, 92, who still lives in her on one-bedroom apartment in the 20th arrondissement in Paris. She wouldn’t go to a retirement home for anything in the world.

À la cave - Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO

France is going to La Cave today, that’s her favorite the wine store, boutique. She wants to pick up a bottle of wine. She uses a lot of adjectives, which we’ll study in the companion worksheet. For instance, do you know that Il est gris doesn’t always mean : he is grey, but it can mean “He’s tipsy” and that isabelle is not only a girl’s name, but also a color? Also in the grammar points, is when to use apporter, emporter, amener and emmener. The Culture capsule brings us to this famous Médoc Marathon, where I’ve seen a few runners having to quit from drinking too much red wine en route. Leave it to the French to run a marathon and drink red wine!

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À la cave - Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO
France is going to La Cave today, that’s her favorite the wine store, boutique. She wants to pick up a bottle of wine. She uses a lot of adjectives, which we’ll study in the companion worksheet. For instance, do you know that Il est gris doesn’t always mean : he is grey, but it can mean “He’s tipsy” and that isabelle is not only a girl’s name, but also a color? Also in the grammar points, is when to use apporter, emporter, amener and emmener. The Culture capsule brings us to this famous Médoc Marathon, where I’ve seen a few runners having to quit from drinking too much red wine en route. Leave it to the French to run a marathon and drink red wine!
In the companion worksheet – 1o pages

Visite au château – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO

Today, we are going to travel through the Loire Valley with this unit called “Visite au château”, which translates as “Visit to the Castle”. We will learn about a beautiful castle, the one that inspired famous cartoonist of Tintin character.

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Visite au château – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO
Today, we are going to travel through the Loire Valley with this unit called “Visite au château”, which translates as “Visit to the Castle”. We will learn about a beautiful castle, the one that inspired famous cartoonist of Tintin character.

This unit is called “Pique-nique en France ”, which translates as “Picnic in France”. France and Henri are getting ready to go for a picnic before they hike with a group of friends. They are deciding who is going to bring what sort of food to the picnic.

* text
* translation
* two quick and easy picnic recipes for a French potato salad to bring to your next picnic
* the different meanings of the word ‘d’abord’
* compound nouns
* the pronoun EN, such as in ‘Elle EN a une’
* practice

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C'est la rentrée - Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.
C’est la rentrée à FRENCH ETC. France est en première année de fac et elle se rappelle ses années de lycée. Génial, je kiffe l’école grave !
It’s back to school at FRENCH ETC. France is in her Freshman year and she reminisces about the high school years. So much fun! I really dig school.
In the companion worksheet – 12 pages

* text
* translation
* French school system
* the passive voice
* cours and courses
* practice on all of the above

France is thinking about trading her car for a bicycle, or even maybe getting nothing as it’s costing her more and more to maintain, not to mention the price of gas which has soars to up to two Euros a liter.

Miam miam. France really really wants to eat a cream pastry, and not a Danish. She and Henri stop at a salon de thé, a French tea room. They both use lots of colloquial expressions in French that you can use later.

Summer time is just around the corner in France. I just took out my petanqueboules. France too is playing pétanque. Pétanque, a boule game similar to Bocce ball, is played by French families in their garden when it’s nice out. It’s the only sport I know – with les boules – that you can play anywhere – on the lawn if you don’t have a specific court – at all ages and with a glass of wine in your hand.

But don’t tune out if you’re not into pétanque because France uses a lot of idiomatic expressions in French that you too can use in other contexts.

In the worksheet – 11 pages

whole text with lots of colloquial expressions

translation

lapétanque explained

ordinal and collective numbers – how to say the first, the second, and a dozen of

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What's 'une partie de petanque'? How is it played? What are the terms used? Listen to Anne's AUDIO
L’été arrive en France. Il est temps que je sorte mes boules de pétanque. France aussi, joue à la pétanque. La pétanque est similaire au jeu de boules que les familles françaises jouent dans leurs jardins quand il fait beau. C’est le seul sport – avec les boules – que je connaisse que l’on peut jouer n’importe où – sur la pelouse si on n’a pas de terrain spécial – à tout âge, avec un verre de vin à la main.
Mais ne partez pas si vous n’aimez pas la pétanque car France parle avec beaucoup d’expressions idiomatiques en français dont vous pourrez vous servir dans d’autres contextes.
Summer time is just around the corner in France. I just took out my petanque boules. France too is playing pétanque. Pétanque, a boule game similar to Bocce ball, is played by French families in their garden when it’s nice out. It’s the only sport I know – with les boules – that you can play anywhere – on the lawn if you don’t have a specific court – at all ages and with a glass of wine in your hand.
But don’t tune out if you’re not into pétanque because France uses a lot of idiomatic expressions in French that you too can use in other contexts.
In the worksheet – 11 pages

* whole text with lots of colloquial expressions
* translation
* la pétanque explained
* ordinal and collective numbers – how to say the first, the second, and a dozen of
* play with French accents
* practice

France is telling us about her plans for this coming summer. She’s going to do a culinary tour of France, tasting local delicatessen – some of them you might even want to try yourself – in different regions of the country. She’ll start in Brittany and end the loop in La Loire Valley.

Today, we’re tinkering around the house, which by the way, is a French national sport. France just inherited her great-aunt’s old farm house, and she is in way over her head with that home improvement project as she tries to renovate it herself. C’est pas de la tarte ! as we say in French.

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]]>Continuez à lire. . .Le bricolage – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.
Aujourd'hui, nous bricolons dans la maison ; ce qui, en passant, est un sport national en France. France vient d'hériter de l'ancienne maison de ferme de ses grands-tantes, et elle est complètement dépassée avec cette rénovation de la maison alors qu'elle tente de la rénover elle-même. C’est pas de la tarte ! comme on dit en français.
Today, we’re tinkering around the house, which by the way, is a French national sport. France just inherited her great-aunt’s old farm house, and she is in way over her head with that home improvement project as she tries to renovate it herself. C’est pas de la tarte ! as we say in French.
In the companion worksheet – 9 pages

* text
* translation
* family members terms
* home improving vocabulary
* how to form regular verbs in the subjunctive
* practice and answers on all of the above

AUDIO

In this unit called “En randonnée” – ‘Hiking’, France is telling us about her hike and she uses all these expressions such as “I owe you one”, “I hear you”, “I can’t wait”, “you bug me.”
In the companion worksheet – 11 pages

* text
* translation
* famous French hiking trails
* different ways of asking a question
* verbs that have a RE-prefix such as RAPPELER, REPRENDRE, RACHETER
* peculiar plural forms in French
* practice on all of the above

Le tennis à Roland Garros - Tennis at the French Open. Guess where France is today. She’s at Roland Garros, the French Open. Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO file and companion worksheet.

Guess where France is today. She’s at Roland Garros, the French Open. Her tennis chouchou – her favorite – is Tsonga and she’s reading an article about him, becoming famous in Ouest-France, her regional paper.

* whole text with lots of colloquial expressions
* translation
* list of Tennis terms in French
* French origin of tennis
* how to say SINCE in French
* difference is between ‘un chiffre, un numéro and un nombre’, all translated as ‘a number’ in English
* practice

France has to go to the Cannes movie Festival, in the South of France to interview a movie director. She is taking advantage of a long weekend. Elle fait le pont "She makes the bridge". She uses a lot of colloquial expressions in French that you can use later.

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Docteur chômeur – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.
France nous parle de son neveu et sa bagarre pour trouver du travail ces jours-ci en France, même s’il a un doctorat. Ça fait que son neveu est encore un tanguy.
France is telling us about her nephew and his struggle to find a job these days in France, even though he holds a doctorate degree. As a matter of fact, her nephew is still a tanguy.
In the companion worksheet – 13 pages

* text
* translation
* graduation terms in French
* French expressions with first names, such as ‘un tanguy’
* sequence of tenses in French sentences
* practice and answers on all of the above

Today, France is stuck at the doctor’s office in France. She needed an appointment pretty quickly as she had a stomachache and she was coughing a lot. Go to the doctor's with her and learn what to say at your next doctor’s appointment in France. You wouldn’t want to say “I want the doctor (médecin)” instead of « I want medicine (médicaments) » right?

In the companion worksheet – 11 pages

text

translation

culture capsule: Health care in France

list of English-speaking hospital and pharmacy in Paris and emergency phone numbers

Today, France is spending the whole day on lesgrands boulevards. She will start West on the boulevards and go on Eastward, and have a full day of shopping, eating and going to a play. Going on on lesgrands boulevard is a true cultural experience not to be missed when you go to Paris. It’s where you can catch a concert, eat in the best brasseries and where to find good bargains. You’ll find all the details in the worksheet I made.

Qu’est-ce que tu fiches ? - What the heck are you doing? – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.

France is slightly impatient today, as she is waiting for her roommate to get ready so they can go to work on time. She uses tons of colloquial expressions and we’ll use her monolog to improve our French.

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Qu’est-ce que tu fiches ? - What the heck are you doing? – Advanced French – Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO.
France is slightly impatient today, as she is waiting for her roommate to get ready so they can go to work on time. She uses tons of colloquial expressions and we’ll use her monolog to improve our French.
In the companion worksheet – 7 pages

Today, France is telling us about her Sunday morning. She was going to go for a run, but instead, she ran into an acquaintance. She can’t quite remember his name first. Anyway, she ends up getting breakfast for her family instead of running.

In the companion worksheet – 10 pages

text

translation

list of the stores you’ll find in a French village or neighborhood

asking for directions

demonstrative pronouns and adjectives: how to say ‘this, that, the one…’

France – the country - is undergoing a huge switch of gear. French schools are taking their winter vacation and the whole country is divided into three zones – A, B, and C – right now. France – our friend - and Henri are in Zone B.

* text
* translation
* staggered zones for French school holidays
* overview of six ski resorts French people really like
* winter terms – vacation, sports, clothing
* uses of the pronoun Y
* practice and answers on all of the above

France and Henri are all lovey-dovey on Valentine’s day. Henri is spoiling France. She was having coffee at Les Deux Magots when he called her. Later on that afternoon, they met Place Vendôme, chezCartier’s, quarters of luxury jewelry. He really outdid himself!

* text
* translation
* French restaurants tips
* different types of restaurants you can expect to find in France
* French wines and varietals
* Future tense
* moi, toi, eux... disjunctive pronouns
* when to say si instead of oui
* practice on all of the above

Today’s dialog brings us to talking about books, novels, and 5 French authors. We also go through what Cecilia, ex-first lady, has to say about the French President in her banned book. Boy! She’s not gentle with him. Check out the content of the companion worksheet below.

Today, France is going to an apéro géant, a humongous cocktail party. She registered on Facebook, along with 2,000 other people from her city. She speaks Verlan – which I call wordsback slang. A lot of young French people speak Verlan French these days. And because Verlan can be challenging to Foreign ears, France says the text twice – once in Verlan and once in every day French. How convenient is that?

* text
* translation
* King's cake in France
* French dog talk - Yes, dogs speak French too, you know.
* the pluperfect, the past of the past
* practice on adverbs of time
* practice and answers on all of the above

Location de voiture - Advanced French. How do you rent a car in France? Get some tips, learn the vocabulary. Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO file and companion worksheet, all made by a native speaker.

France is leaving Paris to go to Saint-Malo. She rented a car, and of course, ran into some trouble, as usual. She tells us all about it with her everyday current expressions that you can learn too with the Premium companion worksheet.

AUDIO

Location de voiture - Advanced French. How do you rent a car in France? Get some tips, learn the vocabulary. Learn French with Anne’s AUDIO file and companion worksheet, all made by a native speaker.

France is leaving Paris to go to Saint-Malo. She rented a car, and of course, ran into some trouble, as usual. She tells us all about it with her everyday current expressions that you can learn too with the Premium companion worksheet.
In the companion worksheet – 11 pages